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Monday, March 29, 2010

From blog-reader Sharon Wildwind, comes this great idea:
"Here's a zentangle out-box I made for a charity raffle. It's especially for procrastinators, who have trouble finding the must-do-next thing on their desk."Perfect for Spring organizing AND taxes - there's always a way to sneak in some Zentangle creativity!Thanks Sharon. Have you tangled something unusual? We'd all love to see it!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Rambly stuff:
I was feeling completely tangled by the time I finished this book. But, it's a bit like having kids, you start to forget the pain and only feel the pride. And I haven't even seen the printed book yet. Which reminds me.... they should be printed the first week or so in April. And Suzanne, from Design Originals, bless her heart, took pity on me and convinced the printer to send me a bunch of books directly. I had been (subtly) whining that the books would be published on the very day I was leaving the country. Besides the fact that I wouldn't be able to send them out to my customers until I returned at the end of April - I wouldn't get to see it either until then!

Important stuff:
So that means YOU can get your own book soon after I get them!! I've listed them for pre-order on my Etsy store site. I'll take pre-orders up until April 7th or so, then close the shop til I get back.* If you really want one signed, you'd be better to wait until April 29th, when I re-open the Etsy store. There are a few pics on the site, but I'll add more after I get the books. You have to trust me and have tangled faith that you WILL LOVE this BOOK! If you desperately need this book while I am out of earshot (e-mail shot?) you can get one from my real-life store: Wingdoodle.

* Since I know you are curious, I am going on an archaeological adventure with my mom, my husband, and my son. My arch. professor from college is leading the tour. We are going to (Paris), Jordan, Israel, Egypt, and Cyprus. Whew! I have always wanted to see Petra in Jordan. Nobody knows what Petra is (unless you are an ancient history nut!) until I say "remember the part in Indiana Jones, (the one with Sean Connery as his dad), where Indie takes the leap of faith? That temple is at Petra. Carved into the rocks. thousands of years old. No one really knows who did it or why. What's not to love?

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I adore hi-top sneakers and I spent... quite a while last fall trying to paint white Zentangles onto a black lo-top pair. Now I have tangled sneakers available from Zazzle! This is much easier. The designs on these are from the new BOOK! If you click the link below each pair, you can customize them further - change the bumper colors, the laces, etc. And the best part is that, until the end of March, there is FREE shipping on these sneaks with the coupon code: PROKEDZAZZLE.*

*Free Shipping on PRO-Keds

To qualify for this free shipping offer, one or more pairs of Zazzle shoes must be purchased. The coupon code PROKEDZAZZLE must be entered during checkout to receive the offer. The free shipping offer is for economy shipping to U.S. addresses only. Shipping charges will apply to oversized orders and orders being shipped on an expedited basis or outside the U.S. Offer is valid from February 25, 2010 through March 31, 2010 at 11:59pm PT. Your order must be placed during that time to qualify for this special offer. This promotional offer may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or discount offers. Offer valid on Zazzle.com only.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

This week's Tangle comes from THE BOOK. Flutter Tile is a great grid pattern with a lot of room for variations. I'd love to see what you do with it!

The WCANH Round-Robin Challenge is almost finished. I haven't gotten my own book back yet (it's been a whole year since I've seen it!!), but I just finished my last two books. The first of them had a string that was kind of like a "W" with a rounded section in the middle. So I reflected the W on the 1st and 3rd page, and reflected the W - up and down- on the center page. As you see, I used Flutter Tile for the background. This tangle takes... rather a while... to fill in all the black spaces. So I don't recommend it to the very impatient tangler!

The second book (and my very last one!) had the "Eye of Horus" as the string. The book's owner asked us to use color and, overall, the book is really impressive. I mean, I adore Egypt. But I don't think the book works as traditional Zentangle. The color is really distracting and the tangles themselves get obscured. That said, I had fun "illustrating". I decided to go with a more traditional Egyptian look and I put all my tangles in the background. I like to color and I love the way this looks. But I don't think it really counts as a Zentangle. What do you all think? (About this piece and also about color in Zentangles?)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

My grandfather, Manny Steen, came to the US from Ireland when he was 19 years old. He is the voice of Ireland at Ellis Island and his story is part of a Broadway play. He died about 12 years ago, but he lives on forever in literature!

Ellis Island: The Dream of America: Words of Manny Steen, emigrated from Ireland in 1925, read by Barry Bostwick

It's a shame they didn't have my grandfather read his own part becuase he had the most perfect Irish accent (he could turn it on and off at will). He also looked just like Captain Stubing (sp?) from the Love boat. Really! He was an amazing and yet perfectly ordinary man. You can listen to his story (above) to find out about his adventures as a young man. As my "grandpa," he lived in Hackensack, NJ and took "old people" on trips around the world until he was in his 90's (?!!)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Whoohoo! (imagine fireworks and confetti falling!) I would have posted a bit earlier, but I got a little distracted by the winners' websites!
The three winners:

Mary Elizabeth

bubblemunch

Doda

Figures that two are outside the US, but, luckily, the AlphaTangle books are not big and heavy.

So, let's meet our lucky winners.Mary Elizabeth is a CZT from Northern California (yes, she teaches Zentangle! Anyone in N. CA?) on her blog, Zentangle Fun with Mary Elizabeth, she has a bunch of beautiful Zentangle tiles, but a recent post shows gorgeous door knobs and handles. A great idea - I'd like to see those on Etsy!

Next is Sarah (bubblemunch) from York in the UK. On her blog, Sarah's Tentative Artsy Steps, she shows off a variety of art forms, but her specialty is colorful, whimsical flowers done with watercolors. It's no surprise that her Zentangles also incorporate flowers.

And then we have Doda, a poet from Scotland. Her blog: Doda's Creative Wanderings, features really clever projects and teeny felt creatures. I am in love with the biscuit bears (I wouldn't eat it - I'd build it a little house and call it George).

OK ladies, if you'd like to collect your prizes, just email me at: beezink at tds.net and tell me where you'd like your AlphaTangle book sent. Anyone who is sad and wants their own AlphaTangle book, too, can get one at my Etsy store, Bumblebat. Mention this blog contest when you order and I'll put a "little something" in with your book. OK?

And a question - have you noticed how few men do Zentangle? (I have met the few) And I didn't notice any male followers, but I need to go thru and look more carefully. The actual question here is: what would get men to try Zentangle - why does it seem like a women's thing?

Hey all, I need a really quick opinion on the book cover. I'll post a little survey poll thing over on the right side of the blog. I need to know which cover you prefer - the white background or the cream background. It almost sounds like wedding dresses or something. By the way, Suzanne, the publisher says she likes the book! Phew! :-) Now I just need to fix some spelling and pick the cover. Tell me what you think! (Thanks!)

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Ok, then, how about a practice contest? I see that I have exactly 100 Followers (lower right edge of this blog). How cool is that? But I bet there are a lot of people who are reading this and not officially "following" - am I right? So for our practice contest:

When the number of FOLLOWERS reaches 150, I will randomly select 3 people from those teeny little follower avatars - to get their own FREE COPY of my AlphaTangle book!

Friday, March 5, 2010

I'm so glad that Zentangle.com has a blog now.. and I received your Alpha Tangle book.. awesome! I would like to know if you or anyone you know will be publishing a book or a publication on all the tangles that have been put out there so far (from the newsletters at the official Zentangle site to the many blogs ... especially yours and Suzanne O'Neill's page and books)... I just would love to see all the tangles in one place in maybe a spiral format, not too large but something larger than your alpha book that can be taken in a purse or a small bag with supplies... I know I don't have time to do a book but I am stumped when doing the Zentangles as to what to do in some of the areas and am not as creative as most.. still have trouble making a straight line! So that's my thought... and I hope someone takes the idea and runs with it... it would be a super duper best seller... if only I didn't have so many kids and schedules! hehe... Hugs to you!

Well, Rose I can't fill ALL your requirements... but how about a book that is 8.5" square and has over 100 NEW tangles- with directions for each one? Fifty-two pages filled with instructions, tips, lots of inspiring art (no, it's not all mine!), a gallery and artist and resource links? Oh, and under 20 bucks? Pretty good? I sent it off to Design Originals today. Yes, I know there will be some editing and changes that need to be made, but it feels so good to be finished! I am really proud of it and very excited. It should be available in May. And, no, I am not taking pre-orders! But I promise to let you know as SOON as it is available. We'll do a contest or something. Leave a comment if you have a good idea for a contest!